CEDAR CITY — Two members of Canyon View High School’s state champion girls wrestling team won national titles last weekend.

Tilisa Matakaiongo, a junior at Canyon View High School, has her arm raised in victory after a match at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals, Cedar Falls, Iowa, March 15-16, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Dallas Lowry, St. George News / Cedar City News

Sophomore Julia Kay and junior Tilisa “T” Matakaiongo, both of whom are reigning individual state champions, took first place in their respective brackets at the USA Wrestling 16U and Junior Folkstyle Nationals held March 15-16 at Cedar Falls, Iowa.

Competing in the Junior 115-pound bracket, Kay won her first match by pin and her next three by decision. In the finals, she defeated Iliana Castaneda of Arizona by a 4-2 decision.

Meanwhile, in the Junior 235-pound division, Matakaiongo had a first-round bye, after which she won her next three matches by fall (pin). In the finals, she pinned Ella Brown of Iowa’s Big Game Wrestling Club midway through the second round.

It marked Matakaiongo’s second national title, having also won at the same tournament in Nebraska last year. Kay was a runner-up at that same event.

“Utah was the talk of the tournament,” Canyon View head coach Dallas Lowry told Cedar City News shortly after returning home on Sunday. “It was a good showing for Utah for sure.”

In addition, former Canyon View senior Kristie Jensen, who has since moved to Missouri along with her family, competed in the same 115-pound bracket as Kay and ended up finishing seventh place overall, thereby earning all-American status. 

National champions Julia Kay (115 pounds) and Tilisa Matakaiongo (235 pounds) pose with coach Dallas Lowry at the USA Wrestling Folkstyle Nationals, Cedar Falls, Iowa, March 16, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Dallas Lowry, St. George News / Cedar City News

Also participating in the tournament from Canyon View / Iron County Wrestling Academy were Elianna Santos-Banks in the Junior girls 190-pound bracket, Marc Richardson in the Junior boys 215-pound bracket and Meletilini “Lini” Matakaiongo, Tilisa’s younger sister.

Lowry said Lini Matakaiongo was double-bracketed in the tournament, winning her first match in Junior girls 170 division before losing in the quarterfinals to Emily Novak of Minnesota. She then wrestled at 155 pounds in the 16U division the next day, when she had to forfeit due to injury.

“She got hurt the next morning, first match,” Lowry said. “She probably would have won it, too.”

“Lini, Elianna and Marc were all just one match away from being all-Americans,” Lowry noted. 

Accompanying the Iron County contingent was Enterprise High School senior and 100-pound state champion Elizabeth Cox, who competed in the Junior girls 105-pound bracket in Iowa.  

Lowry said he appreciates the dedication shown by the parents who drove all the way to Iowa and back, much of it in a snowy blizzard.

“The kind of dedication that these parents have that drive their kids all over, that’s what it takes to move to the national level,” he said.

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